Cover panel structure of a ball surface

ABSTRACT

A cover panel structure for making a ball surface includes multiple secondary pieces of different shapes and dimensions to be combined together to form an oval shape.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a ball surface structure, and moreparticularly to a cover panel structure of a ball surface to reducewaste of material during manufacture of the ball.

2. Description of Related Art

A conventional ball, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, generally comprises aspherical bladder having a carcass (80) which is a hollow rubber ball(not shown) affixed thereto. The carcass has a yarn layer (70) mountedthereon and a plurality of projection ribs (71) integrally protruded andextended on the carcass to define eight leaf shaped recesses surroundedby the ribs (71). Then eight cover panels (60) are securely andrespectively attached to a bottom face defining the panel recess tocomplete the production of the ball.

Before attaching the cover panels (60) to the carcass, the user has tocut the cover panel (60) from a material plate. Because each cover panel(60) has a length substantially the same as that of the diameter of theball, a large portion of the material for making the cover panel (60)will be wasted due to the specific shape of the cover panel (60). Takingthe cost and environment into consideration, the conventional method formaking a ball is neither economic nor environmental friendly.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide animproved ball surface structure to mitigate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an improvedball surface structure to reduce waste of material for making the coverpanels of the ball.

In one aspect of the present invention, the cover panel is oval shapedand composed of pieces of different dimensions and shapes.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is schematic diagram showing the process for making a ball of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the composition of thecover panel of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing combination of the piecesof the cover panel;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the ball in a partially exploded form;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the ball of the present invention;

FIGS. 5A to 5D are perspective views showing different shapes of thesecondary pieces for making the cover panel;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a conventional ball; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the conventional ball in a partiallyexploded form.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIG. 1, it is noted that the process for making a ballin accordance with the present invention includes the steps of forming abladder (100), affixing a valve stem on a surface of the bladder (101),inflating the bladder (102), mounting a yarn layer onto the bladder(103), affixing a second layer of rubber on the yarn layer (104) to forma carcass, forming pieces of a cover panel (105), combining the piecesof the cover panel (106) and attaching the combined cover panels ontothe carcass (107).

After the cover panels are securely attached to the carcass, the ball iscompleted.

With reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, it is noted that in order toaccomplish the goal of reducing material waste, each of cover panels(10) forming a partial outer periphery of a ball is composed ofsecondary pieces of different shapes and dimensions, i.e. a top piece(10A), a mediate piece (10B) and a bottom piece (10C).

From this preferred embodiment of the present invention, each coverpanel (10) is composed of the top piece (10A) of a substantiallytriangular shape, the mediate piece (10B) of rectangular shape and thebottom piece (10C) of a substantially triangular shape. The shape of thetop piece (10A), the mediate piece (10B) or the bottom piece (10C) isnot limited to the shape as described above and the quantity of thepieces for making a cover panel is also not limited to only threepieces. That is, the cover panel may be composed of two or more thanfour pieces of different shapes and of different dimensions.

Taking the structure as shown in FIG. 2 for example, after the top piece(10A), the mediate piece (10B) and the bottom piece (10C) are combinedby e.g. sewing, stitched lines (A,B) are formed on the cover panel (10),as shown in FIG. 5. However, when quantity of the pieces for making acover panel becomes more/less than three, the stitch lines are more/lessthan two. That is, taking FIGS. 5A to 5D for example, only one stitchedline is formed on the ball surface in FIGS. 5A and 5D, while sixteenstitched lines are shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C.

After the top piece (10A), the mediate piece (10B) and the bottom piece(10C) are combined, the cover panel (10) is securely attached to anouter periphery of a yarn layer (20) on top of the bladder. Therefore,after all the cover panels (10) are attached to the yarn layer (20), thestitched lines (A,B) are substantially connected to one another.

Due to the formation of the cover panel, the material for making thecover panel is used up such that material waste is reduced to theminimum and thus cost for making the ball is reduced.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerouscharacteristics and advantages of the present invention have been setforth in the foregoing description, together with details of thestructure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrativeonly, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape,size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention tothe full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms inwhich the appended claims are expressed.

1. A cover panel structure for making a ball surface, the cover panelcomprising: multiple secondary pieces of different shapes and dimensionsto be combined together to form a oval shape.
 2. The cover panel asclaimed in claim 1, wherein at least one stitched line is formed betweentwo adjacent secondary pieces after the secondary pieces are combined.3. The cover panel as claimed in claim 2, wherein two stitched lines areformed on the combined secondary pieces.